Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN
Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, GCON is the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Born on March 8 1957 at Creek Hospital, Lagos, he is a professor of law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He is married to Oludolapo Osinbajo (nee Soyode). They are blessed with three children.
Vice President Osinbajo’s early years in primary school were spent at Corona School Lagos. Between 1969- 1975, he attended Igbobi College, Yaba where he was the winner of the State Merit Award (1971); the School Prize for English Oratory (1972); Adeoba Prize for English Oratory (1972-1975); Elias Prize for Best Performance in History (WASC, 1973); School Prize for Literature (HSC, 1975); and African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker’s Prize (1974).
Thereafter, he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Lagos between 1975-1978 when he obtained a Second Class Upper Degree in Law. Here, he also won the Graham-Douglas Prize for Commercial Law. In 1979, he completed the mandatory one-year professional training at the Nigerian Law School whereon he was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of Nigeria's Supreme Court. In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics & Political Science, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.
An accomplished scholar, teacher, lawyer and administrator, he is one of the nation’s leading experts on the Law of Evidence, National and Regional Corporate Commercial Laws and Public Law.
From 1979 –1980, he participated in the one-year youth service programme as a Legal Officer with Bendel Development and Planning Authority (BDPA), in the now defunct Bendel State, Nigeria. In 1981, the University of Lagos, Nigeria, engaged him as a Lecturer. From 1988–1992, he was appointed as an Adviser (Legal Advice and Litigation), to the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, KBE.
In 1994, he became a Professor of Law following which he was appointed Head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos. Between 1999 and 2007, he was Member of Cabinet of the Lagos State Government where he served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
From 2007 – 2013 he was once again employed as a Professor of Law, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos. In 2007, Osinbajo became Senior Partner at SimmonsCooper Partners, Nigeria (a commercial law practice firm).
Vice President Osinbajo was also Staff Member, United Nations Operations in Somalia, Justice Division, UNOSOM II. Member, United Nations Secretary General’s Committee of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN, Peacekeeping Personnel around the globe and Partner in Law Firm of Osinbajo, Kukoyi & Adokpaye.
Vice President Osinbajo is a member of the International Bar Association and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and has served on the Nigerian Body of Benchers and the Council for Legal Education of Nigeria. He was also an independent director of CitiBank Nigeria and an ethics adviser to the board of the Africa Development Bank (ADB). He has authored several books.
While in public office as Attorney General, Lagos, he has been credited with undertaking far-reaching significant judicial reform in Lagos State, addressing critical areas as judges' recruitment, remuneration, training and discipline. In addition, he addressed access to justice for the poor by establishing appropriate institutions in the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC).
He founded the Orderly Society Trust (OST) involved in an Excel literacy programme that aims to provide children in public primary schools with the same level of training in English as is available to their counterparts in private schools. He also co-founded Justice Research Institute (Gte), a justice sector think tank as well as the Convention on Business Integrity.
As a spiritual leader, Osinbajo has organized various initiatives that work towards social justice. He organizes the Liberty Schools Project that provides free primary school education with free school lunches to poor children. This Project has three sites in poor communities in Obanikoro, Ikota and Makoko, all in Lagos. Other initiatives include free health care facilities, free legal services, social rehabilitation, skills acquisition for the very poor, a regular soup kitchen service, and free shelter for young people without accommodation. He is an Emeritus Ambassador for the Environment in Lagos.
He was elected Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015.
Akinwumi Ambode
Executive Governor, Lagos State
Akinwunmi Ambode is an Accountant, Administrator, Public Finance expert, a retired Civil Servant who served Lagos State meritoriously for 27years; holding key positions across all cadres of the state’s civil service such as the Auditor General for Local Governments, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Accountant General of Lagos State.
After his retirement from the Civil Service at 49, he established Brandsmiths Consulting Limited – a public finance and management-consulting firm with a deep knowledge of the Nigerian public sector. He serves as the Managing Consultant/CEO and has used his wealth of experience and social network to build alliances that will establish Brandsmiths as a world-class professional services provider, engaging in strategic planning, operations improvement, business planning and public financial management. The firm and its associates are presently working with State and Federal government agencies to cut-over to the new IPSAS system of public accounting which takes effect from 2014.
He graduated with Honours in Accounting from the University of Lagos at the age of 21. At 24, he had become a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and finished a Masters degree in Accounting specializing in Financial Management, also at the University of Lagos, via a Federal Government Scholarship. He also received a US Fulbright scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Boston University in Massachusetts.
He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School Advance Management Programme. He has attended courses at renowned institutions such as Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England, the Institute of Management Development Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD Singapore and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, USA.
He is passionate about Lagos, developing young leaders and professionals and contributing to the society from which he has gained so much.
He assumed office as Executive Governor, Lagos State on May 29, 2015.
Ambassador Ketil Karlsen
Head, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS
Ambassador Ketil Karlsen is the Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS. He has previously served as the Ambassador of the European Union to Honduras, and the Chargé d'affaires in the Royal Danish Embassy in Zimbabwe.
From 2007 until 2010 he served as a Head of Unit in the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from September 2003 until 2007 he was the Deputy Ambassador in the Royal Danish Embassy in Nicaragua. Previously, he was the first secretary in the Royal Danish Embassy in Mozambique, the focal point for EU-AU and EU-SADC ministerial meetings.
Mr Karlsen Sociology studied in the University of Veracruz in Mexico, and holds a Master’s degree in Political Sciences and International Relations from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Astrid Schomaker
Director for Global Sustainable Development
DG Environment, European Commission
Astrid Schomaker is Director for Global Sustainable Development at the European Commission's Directorate General for the Environment. Her portfolio includes international relations, international resource efficiency, and environment policy strategy, including the alignment of environment policy with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
A lawyer by training, she joined the European Commission in 1992 where she held various posts in the external affairs department, before moving to the Environment Department in 2004 where she lead work on a variety of issues including, chemicals, oceans and water industry as well as overall coordination and communication. She took up her present position in July 2016.
Onyeche Tifase
MD/CEO, Siemens Limited Nigeria
Onyeche Tifase is an experienced engineering professional with extensive experience in the power and consulting industries. She graduated with a degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Nottingham and completed her Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
She started her career with Siemens in 2001 as an Electrical Engineer in the Power Distribution Division of Siemens Plc UK and thereafter progressed up the ranks taking up other key roles in Siemens Germany and Siemens USA.
Onyeche worked with Accenture Nigeria from 2006 in the area of management consulting and in 2009 returned to Siemens as Deputy General Manager Medium Voltage and Transformers for Siemens Ltd. Nigeria.
Onyeche’s career path and achievements over the years led her to become the first Nigerian Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Nigeria effective November 1, 2014.
She resides in Lagos, Nigeria and is happily married with three children. She is an avid supporter of local content development initiatives and participates actively in key programs focused on the mentoring and development of the Nigerian youth.
Andreas Voss (Deutsche Bank)
Director, Chief Country Representative Nigeria/ Head of Trade Finance Financial Institutions Sub Saharan Africa
Andreas Voss is Head of Trade Finance Financial Institutions for Sub Saharan Africa. He is also Chief Country Representative for Nigeria and based in Lagos. For Deutsche Bank’s Global Transaction Bank he is coordinating the West African activities. He has more than 12 years’ experience in commercial, project and trade banking. Since 2011, he is working in different emerging countries.
He joined Deutsche Bank from Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), which is a subsidiary of the German KfW. Prior to DEG, Andreas worked in the corporate banking with German commercial banks.
Andreas studied Economics and Business Administration in Hanover (Germany) and graduated with a diploma in Business Administration. Before graduating, he completed a bank trainee apprenticeship.
Simon Melchior
Chief Executive Officer
ASSECO SOFTWARE NIGERIA LIMITED
Simon Melchior is a co-founder, shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of Asseco Software
Nigeria Ltd. which was incorporated in July 2014. Before establishing Asseco Nigeria, Simon
has had a rich career of over 12 years in banking, structured commodity finance, mergers & acquisitions and business development, having worked in Paris and New York for Natixis Bank, in London for Trafigura and in Monaco for MRS Group. In 2012, Simon established his business and family in Lagos, Nigeria, which he sees as an epicenter of entrepreneurship.
Simon graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences-Po) as well as the Paris IX Dauphine University, where he obtained a Masters Degree in International Business. He fluently speaks French, English, Polish, Russian and Spanish, with good notions in some other languages.
Dr Lawrence Anukam
Director General/CEO, National Environmental Standards & Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)
Dr Lawrence Chidi Anukam assumed office on 17th February 2015 as the Director General/ Chief Executive Officer National Environmental Standards & Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). Dr. Lawrence Anukam, until his assumption of office, was the most senior Director in the Agency and was in charge of Planning and Policy Analysis.
Dr. Anukam attended Christ Church School, Owerri; Government Secondary School, Owerri; and Government College, Umuahia. He has Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc) in Chemistry from the University of Lagos and a Master of Science (M.Sc) in Environmental Pollution Control from the University of Leads, Leads, England. He has a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D) in Applied Geography (Natural Resources Management) from the Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada, under the Joint Programme with the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He also has a Certificate in Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies from the Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He has attended many professional courses on environment and environment-related issues.
Before joining NESREA, Dr Anukam was the Head of the Department of Programme Development and Implementation at the National Office of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), in the Presidency. And before that, he was the Special Assistant to the Senior Adviser to the President on NEPAD and the Head of NEPAD Nigeria. He was a senior management staff of the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Dr Mark Abani
Founder/CEO MSCA Projects
Dr Mark Abani is the Founder/CEO of MSCA Projects Worldwide Limited, trading as MSCA Projects.
He was the Managing Director and Country Director (Nigeria) for Crown Agents and led the operations of Crown Agents Nigeria Ltd. He remains a Non-Executive Director of CA Nigeria.
Previously he worked in numerous roles in Her Majesties Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the UK. Mark worked in roles; A District Inspector; Manager at the Adjudicators Office; Manpower Policy Adviser; Capital Gains Tax Policy Adviser (lead on specialist and Anti-Avoidance measures); and Head, Debt Management and Banking Strategy and Policy teams. In his final role he had operational responsibility for 2000+ staff heading the Debt Management Enforcement and Specialist teams. He was Cross-Whitehall sponsor the B-i-G group and remains Patron of the Association of British-Nigerian Law Enforcement Officers (ABLE).
He led the Nigerian Community in the UK & created significant bridges between the Nigerians in the UK and Nigeria National Steering Committee of the Nigeria National Vision 20:2020. He was one of only 5 Nigerians in the UK honoured during the official ‘Nigeria at 50’ celebrations. In Nigeria he has also held Board memberships including Board Member, Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria (FIRS).
Before that he was a University lecturer and research scientist in Nigeria where he was Congregation member of the University Senate. A First Class Honours graduate of the University of Nigeria, he holds a PhD in Crop Genetics and Plant Breeding and is a fully trained Tax Inspector. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Taxation, Nigeria. Mark has numerous publications on agriculture and taxation.
Tony Okpanachi
Managing Director/CEO of Development Bank of Nigeria Plc
Mr. Tony Okpanachi was appointed Managing Director/CEO of Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) in January 2017.
He is a seasoned banker with over 26 years’ experience. Before his appointment as Managing Director/CEO of DBN, he was the Deputy Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited since April 2013. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director, Ecobank Kenya and Cluster Managing Director for East Africa (comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Ethiopia). He was also at various times Managing Director of Ecobank Malawi and Regional Coordinator for Lagos and South West of Ecobank Nigeria.
Earlier in his professional career, he managed various portfolios including Treasury Management, Retail Business Development, Corporate Finance, Corporate Services, Branch Management and Relationship Management.
He holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Manchester Business School UK, a Master of Science degree in Economics from University of Lagos and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He has attended several Executive Management Development Programmes on Leadership, Corporate Governance, Credit and Risk-Management in leading institutions.
Bismarck Rewane
Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Limited
Bismarck J. Rewane is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited in Lagos.
He has more than thirty years' experience as an Economist, Banker & Financial Analyst. He is a Chartered member of the Institute of Bankers of England and Wales and a Fellow of The Nigerian Institute of Bankers.
Ibrahim Usman Jibril
Hon. Minister Of State Enviroment
Ibrahim Usman Jibril was born on 27thJanuary, 1958 in Nasarawa Town of Nasarawa State. He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Education/Geography and Land Administration respectively all from Bayero University, Kano (BUK). He was during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) days an Instructor in Map Reading at the Nigerian Army School of Artillery, Kachia, Kaduna State. He has worked for over 30 years, Twenty six (26) of which was spent in the administration of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Abuja. He served in various capacities and rose to become the Director of Land Administration of the FCT, Served as the Secretary of the Technical Committee on Rural Lands within the FCT as well as in the Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC) in the same FCT. He was also the Secretary of the Task Team for the Computerization of the Cadstral and Land Registry of FCT which led to the establishment of Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), a body that is the only official source of geospatial information for the FCT Abuja.
He was a Member and Secretary of the Ministerial Committee for the Appraisal of Physical Planning and Development Issues within the FCT. He helped to set up and manage the Nasarawa Geographic Information Services (NAGIS) until 2015, as a Project Manager and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Nasarawa State.
Ibrahim Usman Jibril has in the last one decade attended several International Conferences and presented papers (both at National and International Levels). Prominent among such papers was on 'Spatial Data Infrastructure Land Reforms and Land Management Issues, presented at different forums, such as the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, Washington DC, US as well as Africa Geospatial Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.
To his Credit, he managed the NAGIS Project in Nasarawa State and assisted the State Government to recover the initial investment of the Project cost of N2.2. billion within Three (3) years (2012 to 2015), through efficient land revenue generation and collection.
Laoye Jaiyeola
CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)
Laoye is the current CEO of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. He is an innovative, energetic and visionary leader with over 25 years banking experience and exposure, both in the local and international financial markets. He worked with the Central Bank of Nigeria for over 10 years and was the MD/CEO, Kakawa Discount House Limited until 2015. He was the immediate past president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). He has served in various committees, groups and professional bodies such as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, where he is currently the Supervising Director and the Nigerian Vision 2020 Committee among others.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics, a Masters Degree in Banking and Finance, a Chartered Banker MBA degree from Bangor University, Wales. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN); member, Chartered Institute of Bankers, Scotland; and a fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN).
Dr. Wiebe BOER
CEO, All On
Dr. Boer is CEO of All On, a Nigerian off grid energy impact investment company seeded by Shell. He joined All On from BCG where he was one of the founders of the Lagos office. Prior to BCG, Dr. Boer spent 5 years with Heirs Holdings in Lagos, playing a variety of strategy & social impact roles. Dr. Boer also worked in the Rockefeller Foundation & McKinsey. He is the author of the acclaimed book A Story of Heroes & Epics: The History of Football in Nigeria and earned a History PhD from Yale University & a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College. He completed his primary & secondary education at Hillcrest School in Jos, Nigeria where he was born and raised to Dutch missionary parents.
Eme Essien Lore
Country Manager, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Eme Essien Lore is Country Manager for the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Nigeria office. IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has grown its portfolio in Nigeria to over US$1.5bn in the past few years in a range of sectors including energy, manufacturing, healthcare and financial institutions.
As Country Manager, Ms. Lore oversees all of IFC’s investment and advisory activities in Nigeria. Ms. Lore first joined IFC in Washington in 1999 where she worked in the Oil, Gas & Chemicals Department. She then moved to the Nairobi office where she developed and processed business leads for a range of sectors and served on the Advisory and Executive Boards of IFC investee private equity funds and microfinance institutions in the East Africa region. She transitioned to advisory where, while based in Dakar, she took on oversight of an Africa-wide portfolio of SME investment and capacity building projects. She also spent a few years with the Rockefeller Foundation’s Africa Regional Office in Nairobi where she supported the development and execution of several initiatives including the Power of Impact Investing initiative, which works towards consolidating and catalyzing the evolving industry of impact investment for both social and environmental benefits.
Ms. Lore is a graduate of Columbia College at Columbia University; she also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania; and an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Mr. Ebrima Faal
Senior Director, Nigeria Country Office of the AfDB
Mr. Ebrima Faal, Gambian, is a seasoned development leader with diverse global operational experience. He brings substantive expertise in international banking operations, administration, and strategy, developed over nearly 25 years working at the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
He is currently the Senior Director of Nigeria Country Office of the AfDB, where he is responsible for managing the Bank’s $6 billion portfolio and for programming new Bank operations and executing new bank interventions in Nigeria. He provided leadership on the design and approval of the new Development and Business Delivery Model of the Bank and the High Five priorities of the Bank to accelerate the achievement of the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy.
Mr. Faal is skillful in solving complex problems, developing effective partnerships and delivering development solutions through dialogue, project finance, financial engineering, knowledge management, private sector operations and capacity building.
Isabelle Van Grunderbeeck
Head of European Investment Bank (EIB) Regional Representation for West Africa
Isabelle Van Grunderbeeck is the Head of EIB Regional Representation for West Africa.
Since 2008, she has been working with the EIB on investments in West Africa and the Maghreb. Previously, she was an Infrastructure Specialist at the African Development Bank where she notably launched the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). Prior to joining those two institutions, she was a project manager in the telecommunications industry.
She is a graduate Engineer from Supélec (France) and holds an MBA from IMD (Switzerland). She is a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA).
Folashade Ambrose-Medebem
Director, Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development, Lafarge Africa Plc
Folashade Ambrose-Medebem has more than 23+ years senior management experience delivering world class strategic business transformation solutions with a variety of global FSTE 100 multinationals including LafargeHolcim Plc., Diageo Plc., PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ford Motor Company, Zurich Financial Services, Learning & Skills Council UK, Nigeria Ministry of Finance and Department for International Development (DFID) UK.
Throughout her career, she has successfully led and executed robust business transformation strategies pivotal in achieving sustainable growth. She has an excellent record of bottom-line achievements in the deployment of large scale business solutions and in leading cross functional global teams at board level.
Folashade holds a Bachelor of (Hons) Accounting degree from London Guildhall, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Open University, UK and is a certified Financial Management Professional with the chartered Insurance Institute (Cii), UK amongst a plethora of other professional certifications.
Mr Michel Puchercos
GMD/ CEO Lafarge Africa Plc
Michel Puchercos started his career in 1982 at the French Ministry of Agriculture and served as a Director of Orsan, a subsidiary of Lafarge from 1989.
He worked in senior executive positions in a number of Agro- Food and Chemical Industries in Europe from 1992- 1998. He was Executive President, Jungbunzlauer SA (1992-1994); General Manager, Cana Group (1994-1996); and Executive Vice President, Doux-a leading European group specializing in poultry (1996 -1998).
Michel returned to Lafarge in 1998 when he was appointed as Director of Strategy and Information Systems of the Gypsum division. In 2003, he moved to the Cement Division as Director of Cement strategy, until his re-assignment to Bamburi Cement as Managing Director in September 2005. He later was appointed President/CEO of Lafarge South Korea & Japan Operations in 2009. On March 16th, 2016 Michel was appointed to his current role as GMD/CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc.
Michel Puchercos is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique (1976) and the Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts (1981).
Jean B. BAKOLE is Regional Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Representative to Nigeria, DR Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, Guinea, Sierra Leone and ECOWAS in Abuja, Nigeria since 2017. Prior to the above position, he worked as UNIDO’s Regional Director and Representative to Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa(UNECA), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 2012-2016. Prior to this assignment, from 2007-2012, he was the Director of the UN-HABITAT Representation Office to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. From 2001-2006, he served as a Senior Advisor to UN-HABITAT Executive Director. From 1996 -2000, he was the Director of the Permanent Representation Office of the Coalition of African Organisations for Food Security and Sustainable Development (COASAD) in Europe. He also worked as an International Consultant for several International institutions such as the European Commission and UNCTAD. He holds a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in Economic Development, Population and Environment Sciences from the University of Louvain, Belgium.
Mr Jean B. BAKOLE
Regional Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
